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Indian Medical Commission is preparing for the launch of the National Medical Register, which is a centralised repository of doctors practising in India. All the doctors in India will get unique identification numbers by the end of 2024.
All the doctors can keep updated details of their qualifications, fellowships, and other courses. This initiative will allow people to check doctors' credentials from a centralised repository.
Dr Yogendra Malik, Member Ethics and Medical Registration Board of NMC, National Medical Register (NMR) will launch a pilot project, which is expected to be ready by the end of 2024.
The National Medical Register will replace the Indian Medical Register (IMR) and will be accessible to the public on the NMC website. The website will have data of around 14 lakh registered doctors who will be transferred to NMR.
What information will the National Medical Register display?
The National Medical Register will show the information of a doctor such as name, UID registration number, place of work, qualifications, speciality and Institute/University name from where the doctor has obtained his qualifications, along with other important details.
Initially, the undergraduate students will be assigned 'masked UIDs', and once the student completes the MBBS degree, they will get unmasked UIDs. The allowed UIDs will remain with the doctors throughout their professional careers. Additionally, doctors can update their qualifications on the portal and the new register will allow doctors to seek licences to practise in multiple states.
The NMC also said that the initiative of creating 'one nation one registration platform' will help to eliminate red-tapism and duplication. Doctors who are registered with IMR don't need to register again, as the entire IMR data will be transferred to NMR.
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The Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of the NMC will generate the UID for doctors and, therefore, grant the practitioner registration and eligibility to practise medicine in India. After registration, they will be eligible to apply and get a licence to work in multiple states.
While explaining the NMR, Dr Malik said, "The unique ID will be like a bank account where all the information about doctors will be stored. Different stakeholders like boards under NMC, institutions employing the doctors, or medical colleges where they go for further education, and people will have different levels of access to the data as per the need."
People who are familiar with the matter said an IT platform with verified information will make it easy for colleges and employers to check the credentials of doctors.
